Foreclosure Rates are Slowing Across the U.S.
According to the June 14th issue of Forbes Magazine, foreclosures in the U.S. are showing surefire signs of slowing. One of those important signs is that in May (the latest month for which there are definitive data), foreclosures, nationally were up just one percent.
There were 30,881 properties across the country in foreclosure or which received default notices, were near auction status, or were in the process of bank repossession.
Of every 4,549 housing units nationally, one had a foreclosure in May. And one in every 2,000 had a had a foreclosure filing. The states with the most filings were: Illinois (one in every 2,000 housing units with a foreclosure filing), New Jersey (one in very 2,346), Delaware (one in every 2,426), Ohio (one in every 2,667), and Florida (one in every 2,788).
According to Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM (a cloud-based property data platform, providing real estate data and analytics), “While there’s some volatility in the monthly numbers, foreclosure activity overall is continuing its slow, steady climb back to normal after two years of government intervention led to historically low levels of defaults” But Sharga adds a cautionary note: “But with inflation now at a 41 year high, and runaway prices on necessities like food and gasoline, we may see foreclosure activity ramp up a little faster than most forecasts suggests.”
Those metropolitan areas with a population of over one million with the five highest foreclosure rates were Cleveland, Chicago, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami, in that order.
Well, while my article on the lowest crime rates among cities in the U.S. in this newsletter offered great news for Floridians, especially for residents of southwest Florida, the stats here are a bit more sobering: States with the most foreclosures (this is a different than first list of states which are based on how many foreclosures there were when compared against homes not in foreclosure discussed above) in absolute numbers were Florida, California, Texas, Illinois, and Ohio.
But Mr. Sharga has a very thoughtful insight: “It’s interesting that there were ten times as many starts than foreclosure completions. This suggests that financially distressed borrowers may be finding ways to avoid losing their home to a foreclosure sale.” Somehow, ninety 90% of these people are finding the funds to halt the foreclosure process. Perhaps, they are finding higher paying jobs or taking second jobs.
But predictions are a difficult thing in real estate, as there are countless variables to consider. While the overall tone of the article was on the positive side (certainly not totally), America seems to be heading toward uncharted waters economically.
I try my best to add some clarity for my readers. But real estate market analysts, economists, and myself include are great at predictions, except for those concerning the future.